Dynamics
by Beautiful Allusion
Summary: Just a one-shot on how the team is like a family. Palmer's point of view. No warnings.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own NCIS or any recognizable characters. They are the property of the original creators and I make no profit from this story.

**A/N:** This is just a spur of the moment one-shot about how the team is like a family. Forgive the poor quality; it was spur of the moment. Review if you see fit please.

**Family Dynamics**

Looking back over the time he had spent with NCIS, Jimmy Palmer saw a distinct pattern in his co-workers and their behaviour, particularly that of Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs and his team, ranging from his second in command Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, Special Agent Ziva David, Special Agent Timothy McGee, Forensic Specialist Abigail Scuito and Medical Examiner Donald 'Ducky' Mallard.

Dynamics, he had always learnt, came in many shapes, forms and designs; Aerodynamics the study of air and solid objects moving through it, Analytical dynamics, Thermodynamics, Molecular dynamics, Fluid dynamics, Hydrodynamics and System dynamics, but even with his love for science, there was one dynamic that piqued his interest more than the others, one that he had discovered at NCIS; Family dynamics.

Sure he had his own family, mother, father, older brother and then the usual assortment of aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents, but for some strange reason, the six people that made up Agent Gibbs's team seemed to fit together in an even greater pattern than any true blooded relatives in a family ever had.

It was certainly obvious who played who in the scheme of things. Gibbs was definitely the father, not only because he was the boss or the oldest of the field agents, but he seemed to have the air and the quality about him. Sure he wasn't the most openly affectionate, with the exception of Abby of course, but in times of need he pulled everyone else through, in his days at the base, Palmer had seen enough rough times and threats broken through with hugs and encouragement from Gibbs, as well as all of the little sibling disputes resolved with a medium to light whack to the back of the head.

Ah yes, the sibling rivalry. Through the years there had been more of the petty little arguments and witty battles than any amount of cases to be handled. Sometimes Palmer slightly pitied Gibbs, having to mediate for four rambunctious field agents that more or less resembled a pack of teenage brothers and sisters just too keen to get at each others throats, yes they fought a lot, but they also cared, and in the end a certain pecking order broke out.

Tony was the obvious choice for an older brother. He was cool, collected, ran after all of the girls, dressed to the nines even in his casual apparel and was fiercely protective of the rest of the clan, almost as much as Gibbs. He was typically like Palmer's own older brother when interacting with the others including the way he was in constant want of his 'fathers' approval; he challenged Ziva, relentlessly tormented McGee and had many little quirky games and for the lack of a better word, things that he did with Abby. Though no matter how he acted to them all, if anyone else were to ever mess with his siblings they were sure to face the wrath of Anthony DiNozzo, maybe if they were lucky, their face would even be in tact afterwards.

Yes he would break their faces, probably an act that McGee would have contemplated using on Tony many times, even though he was aware he could never pull it off. It wasn't that McGee was unable to break Tony's face in half; it was more like he would never want to.

McGee was the stereotypical younger brother to Tony's cool, macho older one. He was less fit, slightly tubby, worked on computers and technology angles and couldn't really give as good as he got. He was teased and hazed by Tony, occasionally also from his two 'sisters' and wasn't quite as experienced as all the others.

Yes he was successful, a bestselling author, and had more long term relationships than short ones, he got on great with his younger sister and was also on alright terms with Gibbs, one of the highest achievements with their father figure, but he just wasn't as cool as his older brother. McGee never seemed to feel upset about that though, and Palmer figured that that was because he was just as protective of the family as Tony was, Abby in particular, just like the other men.

Abby was every inch the baby of the family. Her Goth exterior and overall perkiness made her a constant friend of everyone, and they all knew that she was Gibbs favourite. If they had been a real family, Palmer would have said she was her Daddy's little girl, maybe even his princess, but in the setting it seemed only fitting that she was simply 'The Favourite'.

She played along with Tony and his games, spent copious amounts of time with McGee, was the only known living being to Palmer to date that could mess with Gibbs and hug him and tease him and still come out breathing, once upon a time she had gone to spa's and retreats with Kate and these days she had the Director and Ziva help her with her court outfits, she was definitely friend to all, even Palmer himself and Ducky.

Ducky was a curious case. Palmer could never quite decide wether he was the uncle or the grandfather, his relationship with Gibbs and the stories he told to the others, making him doubt the decisions respectively.

To Gibbs he sometimes seemed like an older brother, but overall, Palmer decided that he had to be the grandfather, reminding him a lot of his own grandparents. His stories of past cases and life experiences were probably what swung his vote the most. They were interesting and most of the time were relevant to the moment, Abby and Palmer were the two that would listen and pay attention, the others would often linger then leave or just outright disappear, the length of the tales and the way they were told causing the departures, and even still Ducky took no offence; everyone listened when it counted and his affections for them never wavered.

Palmer supposed that the list lacked only two people then, the older sister and the mother, the latter someone he hadn't really even thought to cast because there seemed to be no fit in the group. Looking back over his decisions, he thought he was perhaps also wrong in the way he had cast Ziva as the older sister, remembering Kate and her interactions with the team. Yes Kate would always be the older sister, and now Palmer knew exactly how to fit the rest into the picture.

Jenny and Ziva had a close relationship. They had known each other before NCIS and would probably interact more often than Jenny did with any other member on the team excepting Gibbs. They had a mother daughter relationship, Palmer thought, Jenny was the mum to Ziva and the stepmother to the others, another wife of Gibbs that wasn't going as great as it could be. This allowed Ziva a place in the family, one Palmer thought fitted her quite well; the step sister.

Ziva was relentless in her teasing of Tony, often bordering on the flirting side of things, acceptable since they were not actually related. She would join in the teasing of McGee, had won over Gibbs favour, and after a rocky start with Abby due to the position she was thrust into (Kate's), now helped her with the girly things like hair and outfits with the assistance of Jenny.

Yes, Palmer thought again, realising the amount of times he had begun a string of thoughts with that very word that evening, they were an interesting family. On some levels they were unconventional and dysfunctional, but on all levels they seemed to slot together into the perfect fit; the absolute definition of what a family was supposed to be.

Dynamics, he had always learnt, came in many shapes, forms and designs; Aerodynamics the study of air and solid objects moving through it, Analytical dynamics, Thermodynamics, Molecular dynamics, Fluid dynamics, Hydrodynamics and System dynamics, but even with his love for science, there was one dynamic that piqued his interest more than the others, one that he had now analysed and come to appreciate at NCIS; Family dynamics.


End file.
